FORTRESS OF SKOPJE (СКОПСКО СКОПСКО - KALAJA E SHKUPIT)

Brightly lit at night, this fortress (Скопско Кале/Skopsko Kale, Kalaja e Shkupit) is worth it mostly for the views it offers: it overlooks the Vardar River on the highest point in the city center, 268 meters above sea level. Unfortunately, it is poorly maintained. It is, however, the oldest inhabited site in the city, with discoveries made here dating back to the ^4th millennium BC. The fortifications were created by the Byzantines in the ^6th century from materials of the Roman colony of Scupi, destroyed by an earthquake. But its present structure dates from the Ottomans. There remains a gate and a portion of Byzantine wall to the east and, above all, a 121 m long rampart and restored defensive towers facing the city center. It is possible to walk the walkway during the day. Inside, traces of a Byzantine building, an Ottoman mosque and a medieval Serbian church are visible. It was in the latter that the Serbian king Dušan was crowned emperor "of the Serbs and Greeks" on April 16, 1346, briefly becoming the most powerful ruler in Europe. The fortress also has a museum installed under a glass structure. But it has been closed for several years. Finally, along the southern rampart stands the monument Strength, Glory and Victory created in 1953 by the sculptor Jordan Grabulovski, to whom we owe the Makedonium in Kruševo. It represents a woman holding a laurel wreath at a height of 5 m with a soldier and a small child at her feet.